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Chaffetz

Do your job. That’s what attendees of a town hall conducted by Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz shouted at him last week.

The crowd is upset that the congressman has failed to hold the president accountable for his hateful and dangerous policies. The funny thing is neglecting to do his job didn’t begin after Trump was sworn into office. Chaffetz has spent the bulk of his time engaging in pointless investigations into Benghazi and Planned Parenthood, and trying to end legal marijuana and gay marriage in the nation’s capital.

Chaffetz later accused the crowd of being paid protesters and said he may not provide a venue in the future for “radicals” to further intimidate him. The snowflake provided no proof anyone was paid to attend, shout, and harass him.

I’m on a lot of political mailing lists for conservatives and liberals. Every week someone invites me to join political groups, events, and protests. I hear a lot but I’ve yet to be offered any money to attend a protest or hear from anyone who has. What up with dat?

Despite doing it pro bono, people are showing up to Republican town halls to yell “do you job,” “shame,” and to question their representatives. And to Chaffetz’s credit, at least he actually showed up.

Other Republicans have scheduled town halls and have failed to show up or they have sneaked out the back after seeing they weren’t going to be greeted with cheers and showered with adoration.

If nothing else they could always do what Donald Trump does and make up numbers and claim everyone present was there to cheer them. Though Trump is into a different kind of showering.

Democrats are trying to emulate the Tea Party in building a base for the midterm elections. There’s just one problem with that and it’s the fact Democrats are lazy during midterms. Conservatives are very loyal to the GOP, even when they throw out their incumbents for newer scarier Republicans (How ya’ doing, Eric Cantor? I miss drawing you). Liberals aren’t as loyal to the Democratic Party. A great many of them are independent and feel burned by the party. Go ask a Bernie supporter how he feels about Hillary’s candidacy or Debbie Wasserman Schultz (I miss drawing her).

Another issue is that during the 2018 midterm elections there are 33 seats up for election. Currently 23 of those belong to Democrats and two independents who caucus with the Dems. Republicans only have nine. A lot of these, even for the Democrats, are in states that voted not only for Trump in 2016, but for Romney in 2012.

I expect the Democrats to make gains in the House but they can actually lose seats in the Senate. Even if the Republicans burn the nation to the ground before then.

Creative notes: You gotta know this cartoon is a Blues Brother reference. Just in case you don’t (what’s wrong with you?) I will explain. Warning! Spoilers ahead (and I still haven’t seen Rogue One).

The Blues Brothers steal a gig from a country band at Bob’s Country Bunker, and they tell Bob they are the “Good Ole Boys” band. Bob’s Country Bunker features both kinds of music, “Country” and “western.” As the boys go into their first song, which is neither “country” nor “western,” the crowd becomes rowdy and starts throwing beer bottles at the band. Fortunately for the band the stage is erected behind a protective layer of chicken wire.

The boys appease the crowd by playing the “Theme To Rawhide” and “Stand By Your Man.” The audience loves it yet they continue to hurl bottles at the band.

When I played in bands I never had to play behind chicken wire or dodge beer bottles. But I have been in the predicament The Blues Brothers found themselves in at the end of the night where the band actually owes the bar money because of all the beer they drank. However my bands have always paid the tab and didn’t finish the evening with a high-speed chase pursued by an RV full of angry Good Ole Boys.

I anger and get pursued by good ole boys for other reasons.

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There has been no shortage of cartoon issues this week. Between Russia in Syria, Hillary taking a position, Ben Carson’s stupidity and Thursday Congressman Kevin McCarthy surprised everyone by removing himself from becoming Speaker of the House.

The crazies that make up the Teapublican wing of the party in Congress has made the Speaker job a position no rational person wants to deal with. Congress needs someone who can do the business of government but the Tea Party wackos truly want someone who will disrupt government, make politics out of every issue and refuse to work with the president. These are the people who want to shut down the government.

They don’t make up the majority of the party but they are enough of them to disrupt the government, and curtail a rational person from getting enough vote from becoming Speaker.

There is speculation the real reason McCarthy stepped aside is because he has been having an affair with a fellow member of Congress. Since the affair is only speculation I don’t want to contribute to rumors that McCarthy, who’s married, has been having an affair with a female member of Congress, who’s also married, thus making it an affair. So let’s not speak of this affair business anymore. Though earlier this week another Republican Congressman wrote a letter to the GOP conference chairman that any member who’s done any misdeeds, like having an affair, since becoming a member of Congress, thus embarrassing themselves (with an affair), should not run for Speaker. That would cover something like an affair. But again, let’s not speculate on anyone having an affair.

The Republicans will find someone willing to take the job. The trick is to find someone smart enough not to take the job, but guilt him into taking the job anyway. Jason Chaffetz, the guy who embarrassed himself and got his butt handed to him at the hearing over Planned Parenthood, wants the job. That guy can’t even read a graph correctly or validate it’s authenticity. Sure, he should be in charge. The Democrats are loving this.

As a citizen I want this to settle down. I want Congress to select a rational speaker who will conduct the business of government and finds common ground with the president and the opposing party in Congress (even Gingrich did that). As a cartoons I want them to select the craziest bomb thrower there is that goes so bad it taints the GOP’s presidential aspirations. What a cartoonist wants is never good for anybody.

I have drawn my share of holiday-cliche cartoons throughout my 25-year career. The past few years I’ve done a good job of avoiding them. It’s my attempt to be original, irreverent, interesting…not boring. I am bored with drawing Cupids, Santas, Christmas trees and turkeys. You always see a thousand cartoons of sitting on Santa’s lap, a turkey about to get his head chopped off, the Ground Hog, and trick er treaters. Halloween is a lot harder to avoid because the imagery is a lot more fun than other holidays. So I gave you a few treaters today but I think I made up for it by throwing in a Wookie.

Did you like this cartoon? Want to help a cartoonist make a living? Look to the right of this page and make a donation through Paypal. The starving cartoonist appreciates it.